הראה her'á, “show, demonstrate,” is hif'il, root ר־א־ה. It combines final-ה behavior with a guttural middle א, so forms such as הראיתי preserve an audible break between vowels. Its syntax is compact but unlike English: the viewer takes inflected ל־, while the thing shown is a direct object—הראיתי לו את התמונות.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | הֶרְאֵיתִי her'éti | אַרְאֶה ar'é |
| אתה | הֶרְאֵיתָ her'éta | תַּרְאֶה tar'é |
| את | הֶרְאֵית her'ét | תַּרְאִי tar'í |
| הוא | הֶרְאָה her'á | יַרְאֶה yar'é |
| היא | הֶרְאֲתָה her'atá | תַּרְאֶה tar'é |
| אנחנו | הֶרְאֵינוּ her'énu | נַרְאֶה nar'é |
| אתם / אתן | הֶרְאֵיתֶם / הֶרְאֵיתֶן her'étem / her'éten | תַּרְאוּ tar'ú |
| הם / הן | הֶרְאוּ her'ú | יַרְאוּ yar'ú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מַרְאֶה mar'é · מַרְאָה mar'á · מַרְאִים mar'ím · מַרְאוֹת mar'ót | neutral and frequent |
| imperative | הַרְאֵה har'é · הַרְאִי har'í · הַרְאוּ har'ú | true imperative; future commands are more common in conversation |
| infinitive | לְהַרְאוֹת lehar'ót | neutral and frequent |
| everyday action noun | — none in ordinary use — | |
| related nouns | מַרְאֶה mar'é · מַרְאָה mar'á | appearance · mirror |
Current dictionaries record two past-tense vocalizations throughout this paradigm: הֶרְאֵיתִי her'éti and הִרְאֵיתִי hir'éti, likewise הֶרְאָה / הִרְאָה. The table uses the widespread he- series; the hi- series is also standard, not a different tense or register. Specifically feminine plural תראינה / יראינה is (formal or literary); contemporary Hebrew uses תראו / יראו.
הראיתי לו את התמונות מהטיול.
her'éti lo et hatmunót mehatiyúl.
I showed him the photos from the trip.
אני אראה לך איך פותחים את הקובץ.
aní ar'é lekhá eikh potkhím et hakóvets.
I'll show you how to open the file. (to a man)
Viewer with ל־, thing shown as object
The person who sees the demonstration takes ל־: לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, לכם, להן. The picture, room, route, proof, or process shown is the direct object. A definite thing takes את; an indefinite thing stands bare.
| Role | Marker | Model |
|---|---|---|
| viewer / recipient | ל־ | הראה לי |
| definite thing shown | את | הראה לי את הדרך |
| indefinite thing shown | bare noun | הראה לי תמונה |
| content or result | ש־ / איך / איפה | הראה שהשיטה עובדת |
תראי לי איפה זה נמצא במפה.
tar'í li éifo ze nimtsá bamapá.
Show me where it is on the map. (to a woman)
הוא הראה לנו את הדירה ואת המחסן למטה.
hu her'á lánu et hadirá ve'ét hamakhsán lemáta.
He showed us the apartment and the storage room downstairs.
המדריכה הראתה לקבוצה דרך קצרה יותר.
hamadrikhá her'atá lakvutsá dérekh ketsará yotér.
The guide showed the group a shorter route.
English allows both “show me the photo” and “show the photo to me.” Hebrew keeps the same role marking whichever order is chosen: תראה לי את התמונה and marked את התמונה תראה לי both retain ל־ on the viewer and את on the definite item.
Demonstrating a fact or method
הראה ש־ is common in research, argument, and evidence: a study, test, or set of figures “shows that” something is true. No human viewer needs to be stated. With איך, the verb introduces a demonstrated process.
המחקר מראה שהטיפול עוזר לרוב המטופלים.
hamekhkár mar'é shehatipúl ozér leróv hametupalím.
The study shows that the treatment helps most patients. (academic/neutral)
הנתונים הראו שהמכירות ירדו בחודש האחרון.
hanetuním her'ú shehamekhirót yardú bakhódesh ha'akharón.
The data showed that sales fell in the last month.
תראה לי איך עשית את זה בלי לשבור כלום.
tar'é li eikh asíta et ze blí lishbór klum.
Show me how you did that without breaking anything. (to a man)
תראה: “see” or “show”
Bare תראה has two everyday readings. Pa'al תִּרְאֶה tir'é means “you will see” and also works as an attention-getter: תראה, זה לא פשוט, “look, it isn't simple.” Hif'il תַּרְאֶה tar'é means “you/she will show.” The unpointed spelling cannot mark the vowel difference.
תראה, לא אמרתי שזה יהיה קל.
tir'é, lo amárti shezé yihyé kal.
Look, I didn't say it would be easy. (informal discourse marker; pa'al)
תראה לי מה קרה למסך.
tar'é li ma kará lamasákh.
Show me what happened to the screen. (informal command; hif'il)
The dative לי strongly favors “show me,” while a pause after initial תראה strongly favors the discourse marker “look.” True imperative הראה is alive in instructions and formal directions, but future-shaped תראה / תראי / תראו dominates casual requests.
מראה and נראה: the unpointed minefield
Bare מראה represents two participles and two nouns. The masculine participle מַרְאֶה and noun “appearance” מַרְאֶה share one pronunciation; feminine participle מַרְאָה and noun “mirror” מַרְאָה share the other. Syntax decides whether the word is verbal or nominal.
המראה הזאת מראה כל סימן קטן על הפנים.
hamar'á hazót mar'á kol simán katán al hapaním.
This mirror shows every little mark on your face.
Across the root's three binyanim, ordinary writing is even more crowded:
| Binyan | Anchor | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| pa'al | ראה / תראה | ra'á / tir'é | saw / you will see |
| nif'al | נראה | nir'á / nir'é | appeared; seems; is seen |
| hif'il | הראה / תראה | her'á / tar'é | showed / you will show |
Bare נראה alone covers nif'al past and present, pa'al “we will see,” and hif'il נַרְאֶה nar'é “we will show.” The ראה and נראה cards give those paradigms in full.
Key Takeaways
- הראה is hif'il on ר־א־ה; dictionaries record both he- and hi- past series.
- The viewer takes ל־; the shown thing is a direct object and takes את only when definite.
- תראה is tir'é “you will see / look” or tar'é “you will show.”
- Bare מראה covers two participles and the nouns “appearance” and “mirror.”
- הראה ש־ is the normal academic and evidential frame for “show that.”
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- ראה — to seeA1 — Conjugate ראה across the core tenses, distinguish its look-alike forms, and choose naturally among seeing, looking and watching.
- נראה — to look, to seemA2 — Conjugate נראה, separate its many unpointed readings, and use appearance, impression and literal passive frames naturally.
- Hif'il ל״ה: הראה, השווה, הקנהB1 — When the third root letter is ה it never surfaces as a consonant — it becomes a yod in the past, a bare vowel elsewhere, and ־ות in the infinitive. The class also produces the guide's best homograph: מראה is four different words.
- Two-Object Verbs: נתן, שלח, הראהB2 — Build Hebrew transfer sentences with a ל־ recipient and a direct-object theme, including the exceptional patterns of לימד.
- החליט — to decideA2 — Conjugate החליט and choose among its infinitive, clause and על־noun complement frames.
- המשיך — to continueA2 — Conjugate המשיך, alternate final ך with medial כ, and choose among infinitive, noun, and direct-object continuation frames.